Luckily for the Mets, Tom Glavine is a better pitcher than he is a cook.
At yesterday’s Shea news conference, someone noticed a bandage on Glavine’s left index finger. Was it a blister? Something to do with the numbness he felt eight weeks ago?
“I burned my finger a little bit before my last start and it’s just starting to heal a little bit,” Glavine said.
“Cooking dinner. You know, I’m a bachelor right now. My wife’s at home. It was something out of the microwave.”
Apparently, it had no effect on his pitching. Glavine was masterful in his NLDS Game 2 start, pitching six scoreless innings to beat the Dodgers. Now, the 40-year-old tries to continue this flashback in tonight’s Game 1 of the NLCS against the Cardinals.
After 11 postseasons with the Braves, Glavine has thrown performances like last Thursday’s, and thrown clunkers. The key, he said, is to keep the bad starts from affecting your next start and allowing the good ones build momentum for you.
“You try and dismiss when you have bad ones,” Glavine said. “I’ve been on every side of the coin as far as that goes. Certainly you feel better about your next start if you’ve pitched well previously.”
Tonight’s start will be Glavine’s 16th in a National League Championship Series. He is 5-4 with a 3.41 ERA. One of his best LCS outings came at the expense of the Mets in 1999.
In Game 3 that year, he pitched seven scoreless innings at Shea Stadium to top Al Leiter in a 1-0 pitchers duel.
With Pedro Martinez and Orlando Hernandez out, the Mets have turned to Glavine’s experience to give them confidence.
“Glav’s been through this many times,” outfielder Shawn Green said. “He’s a guy we love to have out there pitching in the NLCS or the World Series or whatever it may be. He’s the guy you want out there. I know a lot of people were worried going into the last series with the injuries, but the pitching did a great job.”
Glavine beat the Cardinals on May 16 in St. Louis, limiting them to seven hits and three runs in six innings. Both Albert Pujols and Scott Rolen have hit Glavine well in their careers. Pujols is 9-for-20 (.450) with three RBIs. Rolen is 19-for-53 (.358) with two home runs and seven RBIs.